Nevermore, Quothe the Raven
by cat.cruz93
Summary: After stealing "vitally important" information about his Flock Fang discovers a few secrets or half truths about their survival. slight Fax, and a tad of Father/son moment between Jeb and Fang. read review enjoy!


"_**Nevermore," Quothe the Raven**_

_**this lovely little Fang fic is titled by a quote from the poem The Raven, a poem by one Mr. Edgar Allen Poe, inspired by the new Maximum Ride book also titled Nevermore. and we all know deep down Fang is definitely a Raven, any one who calls his winglyness a Crow's or a Black bird's is lying to themselves, and besides...Ravens are creepily awesome..just like Fang. oh and in this fic, although like you all i'm not personally a fan of Jeb but i like to think that even if the kids hate him, he has a very hard time hating them. Especially the older three and i feel like he's not a huge fan of the Dylan thing so if there was a dominance battle to the death i feel like he'd cheer Fang on whole heartedly. so there you go, on with the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: these lovely characters do not belong to me, you can thank James Patterson for them. **_

_**read review enjoy**_

_**~CAT**_

It was getting late, that's all he knew. But he needed to finish the search; he needed to find her, his daughter, his only child left, before it was too late. There was movement somewhere in the room, Jeb Betchlar froze, if any of his training taught him anything, it was to appear unconcerned. "Yes?" the man got no response. Jeb was indeed worried now, because in his line of duty, silence was never a good thing. The room was dark; the only light came from his computer screen, which honestly did minimal to help the situation at hand. Jeb turned in his desk chair and carefully stood up, "Hello, is any one there?" he tone turned defensive. Still no response, Jeb tensed ready for a fight, when a thought occurred to him, _Fang_, "Fang? I know you are in here." Still no response, Jeb chuckled; the boy had always been a stone cold statue, very good at hiding, blending in and above everything else…being absolutely silent. Jeb heart couldn't help but swell with pride at the thought of the boy, he was like a second son to Jeb, Jeb raised Fang alongside Max, his daughter. Initially they were meant to be inseparable, but somewhere along the growth process Fang proved difficult and insubordinate, so they procured Dylan, another equally perfect match for Maximum. After a small battle for dominance, Fang surprised them all again with an act of chivalry but stepping down and leaving the Flock, leaving heart break, not only for himself, but Max as well. "Buddy, I won't hurt you, please come out of the shadows. I know you want to talk otherwise you wouldn't be here." Jeb said, Fang only did things deliberately, he was quiet and shy, he was never one to draw attention to himself unless absolutely nessicary, and he _always_ planned his actions based on his surroundings and on those reacting to him, not him reacting to them. Fang was an observer _not_ a performer, that was Max's job; she was the one performing the task at hand, Fang over saw what the outcomes and the consequences were to said tasks completed. Suddenly Jeb understood why Fang was there. "You are her skeleton, you know that right?" he heard a small movement, Fang must have gasped, it's not often you take this kid by surprise. "Without you she's simply brawn, you hold her up Fang." Jeb could almost accurately guess Fang was biting his lip now, fighting tears and holding his anger at bay, another thing Fang was good at, not reacting rashly, not reacting with emotion.

"Then why?" his voice was small, but it held so much emotion. Jeb fought against every fiber in his being to flick on the lights and hug the broken teen.

"It wasn't my decision, I had absolutely no say at all." Jeb replied. He heard another rustle; Fang must have been wiping away a few stray tears. Jeb sighed, his perfect little solider was now broken, the shell was cracking; Fang was for once, in any of their interactions, getting emotional. "Fang I'm sorry, I never wanted this to happen to you two." Jeb said leaning against his desk feeling desolate. The room was absolutely quiet again. "Fang? Are you still here?"

"For now." He replied. Jeb knew the boy's temper was failing him.

"Are you going to attempt to help her?"

"From a far." Short quick responses, that was the Fang Jeb raised. The older man almost laughed remembering a time when a five year old Fang stared at him, Probably like he was now, with so much hatred and contempt in those big ever-deep ebony black eyes answering his questions with even shorter and harsh responses. The boy had a natural knack for hitting you where it counts verbally speaking as well as physically. He heard movement, Fang was leaving.

"Do you think you two will ever…." Jeb trailed off

"Never again." _It hurts to much to talk about it right now_, was what Fang meant, Fang wasn't one for using absolutes unless he had more to say but it was too much. Jeb tried once more.

"What if…Dylan were dead?" there was a pause in the movement as if Fang was thinking about responding, or deeming it worthy of a response more like. And then he felt Fangs presence leave the room. Jeb sighed and turned back to his work. There was new screen open on his desk top, Jeb clicked out of it and looked at the tower, his flash drive was gone. Jeb smiled, this was another thing Fang excelled at…Distraction.

Fang landed not far from the office building, he opened up his lap top and plugged the flash drive in. he pulled up all the Intel he could on the Flock. He skimmed it quickly, talking in as much info as he could when he stopped at his name.

_**Recombaint Experiment (Avian Hybrid) Two: **_

_**Human Name-Fang**_

_**Estimated Final height- 6'8" **_

_**Role in Flock- Alpha Male **_

_** Experiments Three and Five show signs of submitting to him, as younger males tend to do in packs of wolves. When told to permit the New One: Dylan, he became volatile and subordinate, protecting his dominance in the Family setting. **_

_**Wing-span – a total estimation of 16' in length and 5' in width adding a good four feet to his natural height when tucked in but not hidden. **_

Fang shivered as Jeb's words came back to him "_What if…Dylan was dead?" _ The offer sounded tempting, but in all honesty what would Fang do if the Ken-Doll were dead, well he knew for sure he wouldn't be here right now, would he? And Fang couldn't help but smile at the little ego boost he got from reading that he was considered the "Alpha Male", if Fang swaggered, which he didn't, but if he did, it would be kicked up a notch. Fang could almost hear Iggy snickering at the knowledge. He chuckled himself and ran his hands through his now shoulder blade length ebony black hair. And kept reading.

_**Estimated age- 17 **_

_**Physical Describtion:**_

_**Hair: Black**_

_**Eyes: Black**_

_**Wing-color: Black**_

"Blahdy, Blahdy, blah, yes I know I'm ruggedly handsome…" Fang muttered as he skimmed a little farther.

_**The only link to experiments Three and Five's survival….**_

Fang froze, _they die because of my death? Not because of Max's? _ he wondered. "So…wait…I die if Max dies, Max dies if Dylan so much as disappears, Iggy and Gaz Die if I die…then what about…?" Fang thought for a moment before continuing on his personal tangent, "Nudge must be connected to Iggy, and we already knew that about Gaz and Angel…..so if I find a way to stay alive….then the kids should be fine…right?" he looked over expecting to see Max next to him, and found nothing but a tree, there was a pang of hurt and longing in his chest, "Where are you?" he wondered his dark eyes filling with tears.


End file.
